I'm really struggling with creating a complicated layout. Here is a picture of what I want in the end:
(source: fbcdn.net)
I've attempted to divide and conquer, creating small panels and putting those in other panels. At first I figured a borderlayout for the main container panel which is in the initial JFrame, with a bunch of GridBagLayouts for the details in those panes. When that wasn't working, I figured I would try my hand at an all out GridBagLayout. Right now my goal is to get the top group of character and location panels/cards to be displayed in their correct aspect ratio (about 4:3) and have them resize correctly (maintaining aspect ratio as best as possible) as the window is resized. What I am getting is a super small square panel for each card when the window first comes up. I want them to start in the aspect ratio (4:3) to begin with.
Am I going about this correctly?
Should I stick with all GridBagLayouts?
If not, what combinations of layouts do you see that may work?
Lastly and probably most importantly, how come they do not start out with the correct gridwidth or gridheight?
It would be nice if all the cards maintained a 4:3 or 3:4 aspect ratio when the window is near a 4:3.
public class OverPower {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame table = new JFrame();
table.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
table.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
JPanel contentPane = new OppCharsPanel();
table.setContentPane(contentPane);
table.setLocationByPlatform(true);
table.pack();
table.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
table.setVisible(true);
}
}
public class OppCharsPanel extends JPanel {
public OppCharsPanel() {
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.insets = new Insets(20, 15, 20, 15);
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
gbc.gridwidth = 4;
gbc.gridheight = 3;
gbc.weightx = 4.0;
gbc.weighty = 3.0;
//back row
gbc.gridx = 4;
gbc.gridy = 0;
JPanel oppHomebase = new JPanel();
oppHomebase.setBackground(Color.RED);
this.add(oppHomebase, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 8;
gbc.gridy = 0;
JPanel oppReserve = new JPanel();
oppReserve.setBackground(Color.RED);
this.add(oppReserve, gbc);
//front row
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 3;
JPanel oppBattlesite = new JPanel();
oppBattlesite.setBackground(Color.RED);
this.add(oppBattlesite, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 4;
gbc.gridy = 3;
JPanel oppChar1 = new JPanel();
oppChar1.setBackground(Color.RED);
this.add(oppChar1, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 8;
gbc.gridy = 3;
JPanel oppChar2 = new JPanel();
oppChar2.setBackground(Color.RED);
this.add(oppChar2, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 12;
gbc.gridy = 3;
JPanel oppChar3 = new JPanel();
oppChar3.setBackground(Color.RED);
this.add(oppChar3, gbc);
}
}
Start by breaking down each layout section into it's individual requirements and focus on those needs, for example...
Area #1
Okay, so basically, this has three main components (each coloured section is it's own panel), which could be used with a BorderLayout
Area #2
So here, you have another three areas/panels, because of the different requirements for vertical space, I might be tempted to use a GridBagLayout, this would allow you to define more space to the two top components then the bottom one...
Area #3
So, again three main areas. Here I'd be tempted to use a BorderLayout again. For the indivdual containers, I might use a GridBagLayout or Rob Camick's WrapLayout (for laying out the images within each of the three areas)
Scaling
Don't worry about the layout manager trying to maintain the aspect ratio, give enough information to the layout manager so that it make better choices, overriding the getPreferredSize and getMinimumSize methods of the image components and providing appropriate sizing hints. Within these image components, I would make sure that the image is scaled to the proper aspect ratio and rendered correctly
Related
I am using GridBagLayout in a project I've been working on, the problem is that when I compile in my computer or in others at my uni it shows properly how I want it to be.
But when I run it on a different PC it is displayed different, the top-left panel and the radar panel are not like they should be.
We both have the same JDK and use NetBeans 7.3, so I don't know where the problem is.
This is the method I am using to add the panels to the frame.
private void agregarPaneles() {
this.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.insets = new Insets(10, 10, 10, 10);
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.gridwidth = 1;
gbc.gridheight = 1;
add(scrollerVuelos, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 1;
gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.gridwidth = 1;
gbc.gridheight = 1;
add(panelEstado, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 2;
gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.gridwidth = 1;
gbc.gridheight = 1;
add(panelOrdenes, gbc);
gbc.gridx = 0;
gbc.gridy = 1;
gbc.gridwidth = 3;
gbc.gridheight = 1;
add(panelRadar, gbc);
}
The code you posted in not enough to give you an exact answer, but in general:
If GridBagLayout doesn't have enough space to display a component at its preferred size it will then use the minimum size of the component. Since many components have a small minimum size the component can get shrunk to almost nothing.
So you may need to look at setting minimum sizes on your panels. You can also look at the weightX and weighty values as they have an impact on how a component is resized.
Read the Swing tutorial on How to Use GridBagLayout for more information and examples.
Also remember you can use nested panels with different layout managers if that makes the layout easier. For example maybe the main layout should be a BorderLayout. Then in the NORTH you add a panel using a GridLayout. In the CENTER you add your other panel.
It is possible that the preferred size of the component does not fit within the available space of the frame and GridBagLayout is reverting to use the components minimum size instead.
You could use GridBagConstraints#weightx and GridBagConstraints#weighty and GridBagConstraints#fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH to try and force the component to use the entire available space of the cell it's within
You should also be using Frame#pack to pack the frame rather then setting it's size manually, this will attempt to size of the frame so that it can meet the requirements of the contents preferred size
In the example below I have a JPanel with BoxLayout which contains another JPanel with GridBagLayout.
By adding a vertical glue I expect the contents of the inner panel to be "glued" to the top of the outer panel.
But I see the label "A" in the center. If I remove GridBagLayout, A is shown at the top.
Why does this happen?
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JPanel contentPane = new JPanel();
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setContentPane(contentPane);
contentPane.setLayout(new BoxLayout(contentPane, BoxLayout.Y_AXIS));
JPanel gridBagPanel = new JPanel();
gridBagPanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.NONE;
gridBagPanel.add(new JLabel("A"), gbc);
contentPane.add(gridBagPanel);
contentPane.add(Box.createVerticalGlue());
frame.setSize(800, 200);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
Because the default value of the anchor property of GridBagConstraints is CENTER. If there is more space in the inner panel than the preferred size of the JLabel, the JLabel would be centered with respect to the available space in the inner panel (since you set fill to NONE).
You can use the anchor value NORTHWEST to glue the label to the top of the panel:
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.NONE;
gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.NORTHWEST;
gbc.weighty = 1;
gbc.weightx = 1;
You also need to set the weights per Java documentation: "Unless you specify at least one non-zero value for weightx or weighty, all the components clump together in the center of their container. This is because when the weight is 0.0 (the default), the GridBagLayout puts any extra space between its grid of cells and the edges of the container."
It's probably because GridBagLayout is a pain in the butt and you should consider using other layout managers. Or it could be that you need to set the horizontal and vertical alignment of your components. Take a look at setAlignmentX and setAlignmentY of JComponent. Whenever I've had misbehaved components it's because I didn't align everything the same.
Although Kavka s' Answer solves the requirement of having A on the top of the panel by using an anchor, I believe the declared vertical glue in the BoxLayout Panel doesn't actually do anything. So, I am going to expand on this to contribute what I figured out about using the weights and the vertical glue in GridBagLayouts.
Since GridBagLayout is a complex one, there may be more than one reason, but as Kavka already pointed out:
the weightx and weighty modification from default value 0.0 to a non-zero value is the key.
As pointed out in the Java Tutorial Documentation on GridBagConstraints , in the description section of the JavaDoc for GridBagLayout and the specific parameter description in the JavaDoc for GridBagConstraints.
If all the weights are zero, all the extra space appears between the grids of the cell and
for weightx the extra space appears additionally between the left and right edges.
for weighty the extra space appears additionally between the top and bottom edges.
So, if you wanted to use some vertical glue to fill empty cells you need to make sure you give a non-zero weight to the glue component in the direction you would like it to expand. I am going to solely use the GridBagLayout, so the gridy parameter is going to allow me to define the vertical distribution of the components.
Taking the original code as example base and extending it a bit to demonstrate the capabilities of vertical glue in combination with weights. This code will position A at 20% from the top of the panel, maintaining this ratio when resized:
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.*;
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
JFrame frame = new JFrame();
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
JPanel gridBagPanel = new JPanel();
gridBagPanel.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridy = 0;
gbc.weighty = 0.2;
gridBagPanel.add(Box.createVerticalGlue(), gbc);
gbc.gridy = 1;
gbc.weighty = 0;
gridBagPanel.add(new JLabel("A"), gbc);
gbc.gridy = 2;
gbc.weighty = 0.8;
gridBagPanel.add(Box.createVerticalGlue(), gbc);
frame.setContentPane(gridBagPanel);
frame.setSize(800, 200);
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
}
For specifics on how the glue works see Java Tutorial on How to Use BoxLayout, Filler section
I'm new to Java Swing and I have been struggling to start the GridBagLayout from top left corner so that c.gridx=0 c.gridy=0 will put my object on the top left corner.
I'd appreciate if you could help me by telling what I need to do after this point:
JPanel panel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
frame.add(panel);
GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
I know that I have to use NORTHWEST or FIRST_LINE_START constants, but I don't know how. I tried to do it this way' but it did not realize the constants.
frame.getContentPane().add(panel, BorderLayout.NORTHWEST);
Thanks for your help.
Read the section from the Swing tutorial on How to Use GridBagLayout. The secton on "weightx,weighty" states:
Unless you specify at least one non-zero value for weightx or weighty, all the components clump together in the center of their container.
You need to use your GridBagConstraints' anchor property. This should do it for you:
frame.setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.anchor = GridBagConstraints.NORTHWEST;
frame.add(panel, gbc);
I'm not guaranteeing that you won't have to set other properties of the constraints object to get the layout you desire. In particular, you may need to set weightx and weighty to be 1 so that the panel takes up all of the available space given to it.
For those, who use IDE (e.g. NetBeans), I finally found nice trick: if you want to add components to top and use their preferred sizes: add another empty panel with weighty = 1.0. Copied from auto-generated code (NetBeans):
gridBagConstraints = new java.awt.GridBagConstraints();
gridBagConstraints.gridx = 0;
gridBagConstraints.gridy = 2;
gridBagConstraints.weighty = 1.0;
jPanelOptions.add(jPanelFiller, gridBagConstraints);
a quick and simple way:
add a blank JLabel to end of page:
// your code goes here
gbc.weightx = 1;
gbc.weighty = 1;
bg.add(new JLabel(" "), gbc); // blank JLabel
There's a workaround. You can put the GridBagLayout panel in a BorderLayout panel with BorderLayout.NORTH. Then Component in GridBagLayout panel will start from top position.
static void test4(){
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Test");
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.setSize(480, 360);
JPanel borderLayoutPanel=new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
JPanel gridBagLayoutPanel = new JPanel(new GridBagLayout());
borderLayoutPanel.add(gridBagLayoutPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
frame.add(borderLayoutPanel);
JButton testButton=new JButton("test button");
GridBagConstraints c = new GridBagConstraints();
c.gridx=0;
c.gridy=0;
gridBagLayoutPanel.add(testButton, c);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
if you want the grid to go all the way to the top, simply set all your weighty = 0 until the last item, set it to any number greater than 0, it will effectively push the rest of the buttons to the top.
Don't forget to also increment your button's gridy value.
Otherwise it will be centered.
(the same can be done using gridx and weightx value if you arent using the c.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL property.)
I am working on a larger GUI with Java and I am becoming angry on Layout Managers.
I have a "Settings-Panel" with a variable number of JComponents in it (Labels, Buttons, JSpinners, JSliders,...). I just want the following:
JLabel <-> JComponent
JLabel <-> JComponent
JLabel <-> JComponent
...
My Panel has a size of 500px, so that there is enough space for a lot of components. Unfortunately the GridLayout always stretches the size of the Components to the whole Panel, even if I set a MaximumSize for every component. It looks stupid if there are only two buttons each with a height of 250px.
I tried FlowLayout, but I cannot figure out a way to make new lines properly. I tried BoxLayout.Y_AXIS, but the Components are always centered, and Label and Component are not in the same line.
Does anybody know a good and short way with LayoutManagers to handle this properly?
An alternative to other layouts, might be to put your panel with the GridLayout, inside another panel that is a FlowLayout. That way your spacing will be intact but will not expand across the entire available space.
Don't use GridLayout for something it wasn't meant to do. It sounds to me like GridBagLayout would be a better fit for you, either that or MigLayout (though you'll have to download that first since it's not part of standard Java). Either that or combine layout managers such as BoxLayout for the lines and GridLayout to hold all the rows.
For example, using GridBagLayout:
import java.awt.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class LayoutEg1 extends JPanel{
private static final int ROWS = 10;
public LayoutEg1() {
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) {
GridBagConstraints gbc = makeGbc(0, i);
JLabel label = new JLabel("Row Label " + (i + 1));
add(label, gbc);
JPanel panel = new JPanel();
panel.add(new JCheckBox("check box"));
panel.add(new JTextField(10));
panel.add(new JButton("Button"));
panel.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
gbc = makeGbc(1, i);
add(panel, gbc);
}
}
private GridBagConstraints makeGbc(int x, int y) {
GridBagConstraints gbc = new GridBagConstraints();
gbc.gridwidth = 1;
gbc.gridheight = 1;
gbc.gridx = x;
gbc.gridy = y;
gbc.weightx = x;
gbc.weighty = 1.0;
gbc.insets = new Insets(5, 5, 5, 5);
gbc.anchor = (x == 0) ? GridBagConstraints.LINE_START : GridBagConstraints.LINE_END;
gbc.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
return gbc;
}
private static void createAndShowUI() {
JFrame frame = new JFrame("Layout Eg1");
frame.getContentPane().add(new LayoutEg1());
frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
frame.pack();
frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
frame.setVisible(true);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
java.awt.EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
public void run() {
createAndShowUI();
}
});
}
}
For more complex layouts I often used GridBagLayout, which is more complex, but that's the price. Today, I would probably check out MiGLayout.
In my project I managed to use GridLayout and results are very stable, with no flickering and with a perfectly working vertical scrollbar.
First I created a JPanel for the settings; in my case it is a grid with a row for each parameter and two columns: left column is for labels and right column is for components. I believe your case is similar.
JPanel yourSettingsPanel = new JPanel();
yourSettingsPanel.setLayout(new GridLayout(numberOfParams, 2));
I then populate this panel by iterating on my parameters and alternating between adding a JLabel and adding a component.
for (int i = 0; i < numberOfParams; ++i) {
yourSettingsPanel.add(labels[i]);
yourSettingsPanel.add(components[i]);
}
To prevent yourSettingsPanel from extending to the entire container I first wrap it in the north region of a dummy panel, that I called northOnlyPanel.
JPanel northOnlyPanel = new JPanel();
northOnlyPanel.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
northOnlyPanel.add(yourSettingsPanel, BorderLayout.NORTH);
Finally I wrap the northOnlyPanel in a JScrollPane, which should behave nicely pretty much anywhere.
JScrollPane scroll = new JScrollPane(northOnlyPanel,
JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS,
JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_NEVER);
Most likely you want to display this JScrollPane extended inside a JFrame; you can add it to a BorderLayout JFrame, in the CENTER region:
window.add(scroll, BorderLayout.CENTER);
In my case I put it on the left column of a GridLayout(1, 2) panel, and I use the right column to display contextual help for each parameter.
JTextArea help = new JTextArea();
help.setLineWrap(true);
help.setWrapStyleWord(true);
help.setEditable(false);
JPanel split = new JPanel();
split.setLayout(new GridLayout(1, 2));
split.add(scroll);
split.add(help);
You need to try one of the following:
GridBagLayout
MigLayout
SpringLayout
They offer many more features and will be easier to get what you are looking for.
I used WrapFlowLayout instead
JPanel yourPanel = new JPanel(new WrapFlowLayout(10, 10);
I am using a GridBagLayout to (currently) display two rows. I am aware this layout is overkill for this task, but am trying to learn how to use it. The problem is that I have added the two panels to the two separate rows and there is a huge gap around the content (see image and code below):
alt text http://www.imagechicken.com/uploads/1264533379009864500.png
Image background;
public Table(){
super();
ImageIcon ii = new ImageIcon(this.getClass().getResource("pokerTableV2.png"));
background = ii.getImage();
setSize(Constants.FRAME_WIDTH, Constants.TABLE_HEIGHT);
setLayout(new GridBagLayout());
GridBagConstraints constraints = new GridBagConstraints();
constraints.gridx = 0;
constraints.gridy = 0;
constraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.HORIZONTAL;
JButton button = new JButton("hello world");
JPanel panel1 = new JPanel();
panel1.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(800,100));
panel1.add(button, BorderLayout.CENTER);
panel1.setBackground(Color.yellow);
add(panel1, constraints);
constraints.gridx = 0;
constraints.gridy = 1;
JPanel middlePanel = new JPanel();
middlePanel.setPreferredSize(new Dimension(800,350));
middlePanel.add(button, BorderLayout.CENTER);
middlePanel.setBackground(Color.blue);
add(middlePanel, constraints);
}
Use
constraints.fill = GridBagConstraints.BOTH;
constraints.weightx = 1d;
constraints.weighty = 1d;
JavaDoc for weightx/weighty says:
Specifies how to distribute extra horizontal/vertical space.
JavaDoc for fill:
This field is used when the component's display area is larger
than the component's requested size. It determines whether to
resize the component, and if so, how.
Unfortunately, with GridBagLayout, if the contents do not fill the entire container that it is in, it will automatically center all its contents within its container. That is why you are getting a really large gap.
There are essentially two ways to fix this:
The hard way: Fiddle with the GridBagConstraints. I had limited success with this when trying to avoid the centre-ing behaviour.
The easy way: Put the GridBagLayout inside of a FlowLayout, and then set the alignment of the FlowLayout to top-left, or whatever you wish.
I have asked, and answered, this question myself sometime last week.
So in your case you are adding your panel1 and middlePanel directly to the JFrame (?), with a GridBagLayout
JFrame (GridBagLayout)
- panel1
- middlePanel
I would suggest this alternative structure instead, to get rid of all the extra space (and centre alignment as well, if you like).
JFrame (FlowLayout)
- JPanel (GridBagLayout)
- panel1
- middlePanel
HTH